Sunrise on Day 8 found us docking at the beautiful and ancient port city of Rhodes.  The island of Rhodes is also known as the Isle of Roses.  We tried to imagine the 100 foot tall Colossus of Rhodes, one of the 7 Wonders of the ancient world, straddling the entrance to the harbor, and were surprised to learn this depiction was not true.  The statue was actually located on land near the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John.  It still must have been quite a sight to the ancient mariners entering the harbor.  The medieval portion of the city is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the best preserved medieval cities in all of Europe.

We boarded our bus for a drive along the east coast of Rhodes through groves of lemon, orange and olive trees to the ancient town of Lindos.  We stopped along the way at a local family-owned pottery shop and watched as they made a variety of items. 

The 84 year old patriarch of the family, who still incises very intricate  designs by free hand on the greenware made at the shop.  

After incising, the designs are hand painted, glazed and fired.  The shop uses a nimber of traditional designs and colors.  We bought a small plate and dipping dish to enjoy bread and good olive oil when we return home

Greek homes are traditionally decorated with displays of beautiful plates

Back on the bus and headed for Lindos.  This beautiful town is perched on the face of a cliff above the Aegean Sea and is reached by walking down a steep road from the bus parking area (no room in the town for busses!)  There is an acropolis with the ruins of a temple to the Greek goddess Athena, which is reached by either a steep climb through the town, or a ride up on a donkey.  We opted to walk up with Bob and Dick.  Betsy opted for the donkey, as her leg and knee were bothering her.  We enjoyed our walk up the narrow streets with surprise views of the town and sea along the way, and met up with Betsy at the top.

Remnants of 3 ancient sets of steps up to the acropolis.  Look closely, from left to right, and you will see all 3 sets.

The entrance tunnel to the acropolis.  Note the beautiful stone arches.  These are of Greek origin from hundreds of years BC.  St. Paul is said to have landed here in 58 AD.  

A portion of the acropolis, which later was a medieval fortress.

More of the fortress ruins

A view of Lindos from the acropolis

The ruins of the temple to  Athena

The Aegean Sea and the small harbor of Lindos from the acropolis

Bob and Betsy leaving the temple

At the temple

A kitty along the path back down

Check out the sidewalk surface.  This is a very traditional  for the streets - small stones collected from the beach and set on edge in mortar.  It is said to be beneficial for circulation in the feet and legs!

Goodbye to Lindos, heading back to Rhodes

Back in Rhodes, we caught up with everyone and set out to explore the old town.  The medieval town is full of beautiful fountains, quaint courtyards and amazing buildings.  

The pigeons love the owl fountain.  It was fun to watch them hang down and drink from the spouts

We all did our best pose for this group shot

A seahorse water trough, originally for horses

Remnants of an early church

The Knights Gate, opening to the port

Beautiful bougenvilla

Our wonderful Riviera

More of the pebble work, in a traditional design

Sunset on another beautiful day

View from our veranda

Off for more Trivia (go, Team Martin!) and dinner.  Will Dick get his glass past the waiter tonight?

Day 7 found us in port at Heraklion (Iraklion is the Greek spelling), the largest city on Crete and one of Greece's major urban centers. We boarded a bus for a journey to  the Lassithi Plateau, on the eastern part of the island.  This is a large agricultural area, very picturesque and famous for its windmills.  Unfortunately, the sails have been mostly removed in preparation for winter, so we only got to see the skeletons. Google Greek windmills and you will get the picture.  The mills are used primarily for grinding grain.

The area is very hilly and steep.  It was very interesting to see how the people have terraced the hillsides to make farmable land.  There were lots of sheep and goats everywhere, along with lots of olive trees.

Our first stop was at the beautiful Greek Orthodox monastery of Kera, perched high on a mountain.  It was built in the 17th century and houses many ornate and beautiful icons.  Sorry, but no pictures, as photography is forbidden.  We marveled at the steep climb and great difficulty the early inhabitants must have had in just reaching the site, let alone hauling up supplies and building materials.

Bird of Paradise flowers at the monastery.

Lassithi Plateau from the monastery

Windmills, minus their sails.  There are hundreds of them!

And of course, we had "mezes" (small plates) at a wonderful outdoor cafe.  Betsy loved the cats!

Good food and good company!

A typical Minoan small meal - extra virgin olive oil (of course), fruit, vegetables, bread, and cheese, along with wine.  Meat is typically only served on Sunday, and is usually goat or lamb.  We have learned to appreciate good olive oil! 

We were good kids and cleaned our plates!  The wine was yummy, too...

We explored a small local grocery store after lunch, and were surprised to see quite a few American brands and products.  Betsy was NOT impressed by the dried, salted fish stacked in open barrels!

Back on the bus and a return to Heraklion.  We had free time to wander around and explore this ancient city.  

We followed the "Yellow Line" to the center of the old town.  We were on a quest for gellato.   

Bob and Betsy found a local special treat, but I stuck with plain, yummy gellato!

Beautuful flowers are everywhere....

Dock side at the port.  An interesting mix of fishing and pleasure boats

25h of August Street is a very nice, pedestrian-only shopping street.  We strolled along, checked out shops, and bought some gifts for people back home

Mike checked out Bob and Betsy's special treat, too.  It was a pastry rolled around a wooden cone and baked to form a cone, sprinkled with your choice of coatings, and filled with soft serve ice cream.  A yummy but messy snack!

Beautiful architecture in very old historic buildings

Lots of stone buildings with beautiful architectural details

The above pictures are the town hall

Local police officers schmoozing with a cute local girl

Back on the boat, and a little help from a tug as we head for our next port of call

The pilot coming on board to take us out of the port

All clear and headed for Rhodes.  More Trivia competition tonight for Team Martin, after our "round table for 7" dinner.  Dick is still trying to get his own fruit punch, but so far our faithful waiter is winning!

Day 6 - Somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea

Today is our "at sea" day.  We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, did some laundry, explored the ship, enjoyed the sun deck, and took a dip in the pool and hot tub.  All in all, a relaxing day.

We had another veranda conference as we were leaving port...

We joined the daily trivia game in the lounge today.  "Team Martin" had a great showing, coming in 2nd!  We are playing for "O" points, but we have no idea what we get for them.  We will pool our points to get a bigger prize - maybe we will get a bag of candy to share.  Oh well, it's a fun way to pass an hour.

Next port of call - Heraklion, located on the island of Crete, and the largest city in the island.  

Day 5 - Exploring Messina, Italy

Messina is truly a phoenix that had risen from the ashes multiple times.  It has been destroyed by fire, by earthquake (December 1908, 60,000 people died), and bombings during WW2 that destroyed the beautiful Cathedral of Messina.  The cathedral was rebuilt in 4 years and houses the largest celestial clock in the world, telling the story of the nativity and also the phases of life from birth to death.

We started the morning with Bob and Betsy by hunting down an ATM to get Euros.  We had to make sure we had cash for gellato!  Betsy found a toy store to check out, so she was happy.

We all took a carriage ride around town to do a quick overview of what we wanted to see

We saw a beautiful fountain and statue of Neptune

Thus building still bears the scars from bullets and shelling during WW2.  You can see the scars in the concrete.

After the carriage ride we set out on foot to explore and find some gellato.  We were quickly becoming addicted and in need of our daily fix.  We found some just off the cathedral square and enjoyed it 

at an outside table.  We managed to fend off the many vendors selling souvenirs.  We learned quickly not to make eye contact!

We  checked out the beautiful cathedral.  They had an amazing pipe organ, which thrilled Betsy and Bob.  Out of respect, we didn't take pictures, but Betsy did buy a book about the cathedral and organ.  It was amazing to think this beautiful church has been completely destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. 

We wandered back towards the ship, looking at the varied architectural styles, and also some excavations of ancient buildings and churches. 

The city was full of bright and beautiful flowers in gardens, on verandas, and in window boxes.

We spotted this little olive tree bloomimg its heart out!

We made our way back to Riviera, and posed with our floating palace.

This is one of the beautiful mosaics on board, located just outside one of the restaurants

We enjoyed another lively dinner with our fellow travelers.  We have staked out "our table" and meet each night to share our daily adventures and good conversation.  What a nice way to end our wonderful days.  

Tomorrow is our "at sea" day.